Adam Raw is a bar athlete from the Czech Republic who has a sick Photoshop physique. Since he is training solely with bodyweight exercises, many people wonder whether they can acquire a similar physique without taking steroids. Let’s analyze the physique of Adam Raw to see if that’s a possibility.

via: http://www.rooshvforum.com

Height:

6’1 (185 cm)

Weight:

209 lbs (95 kg)

BF:

8-9%

According to the videos of Adam Raw, he is 6’1 (185 cm) tall and weighs 209 lbs (95 kg). His body fat levels are not reported, but since he has ripped obliques and a Christmas tree lower back, it’s safe to assume that in most of the photos Adam Raw is no more than 8-9% BF.

The bodybuilding legend Serge Nubret who was one of the best bodybuilders ever had the following stats:

Height:

6′ (183cm)

Competition weight:

200lbs (91kg)

BF:

5-8%

As you can see, Adam Raw and Serge Nubret have very similar body stats.

Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?

It’s a well-known fact that during Serge’s prime steroids were widely used and easy to get with a prescription. It was enough to say that you want to get bigger for football. Additionally, every gym had dealers.

Therefore, it would be naive to assume that getting to the level of Nubret can happen naturally.

Training primarily with body weight exercises does not mean that you are natural by default. Steroids may be the trademark of bodybuilders, but what’s stopping the bar athletes from using drugs to reach their goals faster? Nothing.

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30 comments

The biggest bullshit i ever read and at the end u claim him that he is probably not natural??
He is too much dedicated whats he doing and workouts more than 7 years, man!
His physic isnt even sick, his body is completely natural
go fukk urself

Actually this article is not using any statistical data on why he is not natural and is based on assumptions however there exists data. We all have our natural limits that we cannot surpass no matter how much we train or how good we eat. This natural limit has been found by taking 100 test subjects and measuring their natural limit. This model has been applied to 1000’s of athletes and it fits in exactly with the table. The calculation is simple: weight/ (height in meter)squared. This value cannot be higher then 25.7, 25.7 is the highest anomaly ever found. If we do this with Adam Raw’s statistics we can see that he calculates to be 27.76, which is way above what a human is genetically capable off. This calculation is applied to be of a body fat percentage around 8%.

This article operates under two assumptions to make the claim that Adam is on steroids: 1) to even come close to a bodybuilder from the 70’s, one is on steroids, and 2) because Adam is using “bodyweight” exercises, he certainly must not be able to naturally achieve a physique like that, because muscle mass requires weights.

The first claim is a popular one on this site and seems ridiculous because of how laughably low it sets the bar. Anyone who is big and defined is brushed away as a steroid user, because, to the author here, there is a limit to what the human body can naturally produce. However, any natural trainer with decent genetics who takes his training seriously can surpass this threshold, especially when the only stats considered are height, weight, and body fat.

I’m an example. I’m 6’0 and 195-200 pounds. I have 10% bf and have already hit about 9% bf at 205 lb. So, taking the standard set forth here in this very article, I would be considered a steroid user. But a guy sitting behind a keyboard talking about his unqualified stats doesn’t prove anything. Let’s look at some strongmen that can actually be qualified.

Eugene Sandow, according to the standard laid forth here, at 5’8″ and 220 pounds, would definitely be on steroids. Zishe Breitbart probably would too. Yet these men predated steroids. So the test here is far from conclusive, based on these examples. The counterargument could be made that these are simply the most famous men of their time and are a select kind of physique. I’d argue that Adam Raw, and almost anyone else who is famous for his physique, could make the same claim. And, in the modern world of athletes who shatter previous records and populations of much larger men and women than ever before in developed countries (even more so than times in the past where steroids were much more accepted, less regulated, and more prevalent), why would this not also translate to more people with amazing physiques?

Let’s look at the assertion that bodyweight exercises cannot produce muscle mass. First off, that insinuation seems to operate off the idea that the only bodyweight exercises that exist are push-ups and bodyweight squats and pull-ups. If you even gave a cursory glance at Adam’s program, you’d see he does bodyweight exercises of the most demanding varieties (such as planche push-ups and one-armed pull-ups), and often performs bodyweight exercises with weight on himself. I’ve seen three videos with Adam Raw in them and I know this. So, if the problem of gaining mass is weight and raw resistance, I think Adam gets more than enough to build muscle mass. Just look at any male gymnast and you will see physiques very similar to Adam’s.

The difference with steroids primarily, besides extreme size, is proportions. If you really look at the complete picture of Serge vs. Adam, you’ll see that their physiques are very different. The most glaring difference is the ratio between shoulders and waist—Serge’s waist is unnaturally small, and his shoulders are unnaturally big in comparison. Also, Serge’s traps are much more developed than Adam’s, and his obviously much lower. The pictures featured here compare Adam’s body completely flexed in the middle of a pull-up (in black and white) against Serge’s body in a flexed pose. In other words, Serge is being compared to a guy who is only flexing his upper body (and flexing it much more intensely) in a black and white photo, while Serge is flexing his whole body in a color photo (color being less flattering to muscle definition)—and he still looks better. There’s a clear difference there (even in separation between the forearm and upper arm). Looking at height, weight, and assumed body fat alone is not enough—that’s a very incomplete picture.

Adam could be on steroids, but there’s just as much reason to believe he isn’t. This physique could easily be the result of pure hard work and extremely demanding calisthenics. I understand the point of this site, but its authors levy very serious accusations against guys based on half-assed research. And the bar for determining what must be natural and what must not be natural is so ridiculously low that a good chunk of natural trainers defy it.

Comparing to anyone simply doesn’t work. The only way to be sure is to put an athlete on a year round random drug testing program since his/her birth. Because the benefits of PED’s stay for years(and to some extent for the rest of life) after one stopped using them, if he/she continues training hard.
Not commenting on Adam’s case at all, because he is the only one who knows for sure, and it’s impossible for anyone – not just Adam – to prove others one’s LIFELONG “nattyness”.

Uhh.. Eugene Sandow at 5′-8″ 220 pounds are you kidding me? Have you ever seen a 5′-8″ man at 220 pounds with 8% body fat or less? That is monstrous and Eugene is far from that. Look up Casey Viator and Mike Mentzer. Both were massive bodybuilders from Arnold’s era and both used steroids.

I agree that for most people, it is not possible to get a physique or mass like his from bodyweight-only exercises. But that isn’t all Adam does. He adds weights to traditional body weight exercises, which is where the mass and physique comes from. He can do 370 pound pull-ups (bodyweight + added weight) and 430 pound dips (bodyweight + added weight). Just watch a few of his YouTube videos. Are you really trying to tell us you couldn’t build a physique like his by doing exercises like those? It’s always funny to me that when people can’t do something themselves, they try to say that other people can’t do it either. Just because you don’t have the patience to work hard for nearly a decade to achieve a physique like Adam’s doesn’t mean that other people can’t do it. Your facts may be right about Adam’s stats and Serge’s stats, but the conclusions you drew, you clearly just pulled out of your ass. Have a good day.

Dear Erik,
I agree with you that there are a lot of people who say such things because they simply cannot do an exercise. I have been training calisthenics one year and just started to be able to do a bend-arm planche and gained a lot of muscle and people tell me the same thing.
Now there are studies which show a humans genetic limit of how much muscle mass he can have and Adam’s raw mass is way above that. There has been no person in tens of thousands of athletes who have naturally got passed 86 kg (8% body fat) being 185 cm tall. It is simply not possible without steroids

Please do a 1 arm pushup and tell me that bodyweight exercises don’t build muscle. You are either uneducated or naive into believing that. Your body knows resistance, not whether or not that resistance is your body or an external weight. Get yourself educated before you make assumptions.

I would like to say adam himself says that he does not do bodyweight calisthenics only he does both bodyweight and weighted calisthenics and as far as the question of the BF goes adam has been training for 7 years that’s a lot.
He does extreme training as per his videos on youtube.
To be accusing him of using steroids just on the fact of 1 statistic is not reliable.I’m sorry but I don’t believe this.

Guys believe me i do calisthenics myself it is a workout that causes Myofibrillar Hypertrophy which increases the size of the muscle by increasing the density of the muscle fibers .When training for myofibrillar hypertrophy you’re tearing up the actual myofibrils and your body has to then repair them so they grow bigger and stronger. This is how you get that thick, dense and striated muscle tissue. You’re actually growing muscle fiber and not just filling it with water.Which in turn contract leading to greater tension within the muscle fiber providing a greater density to the muscle tissue, resulting in a ‘hard’ look and increases in strength and power. Thats he looks like that…

First Adam learns and have knowlege in nutrition more than everybody here and he test many things on himself so with this kind of weighted calisthenics and proper nutrition also he use superfoods which is natural source of minerals and quality stuffs for your body everything is possible…

One thing no one here mentioned is the inaccurate and probably really low body fat this guy estimated just because he has a “photoshop physique” and a Christmas tree back. Lots of his LBM could be from water retention and his low (just not 8% low) body fat from the constant conditioning and strict diet he has. This website is definitely just trolling.

The picture you’re showing us in the website is 1 year old.
When he was leaner.Nowadays when he is fatter he is around 90 kg,not 95.
It’s also obvious that picture was photoshopped.
He is mostly training weighted calisthenics.
He is taking natural protein.(Not any shit whey protein)
He is training like an fking animal.
He is honest to people,and to him self.
Not to mention that he is eating healthy food full of vitamins.
The dude is training for 7 years.
I mean what can i say more.

If Adam did everything perfectly including nutrition its unlikely yes, impossible no. So glad his articles for better, these old ones are highly amateur. Plus misinformation. Serge nubret was 212@ his best in that photo. Likely 6%. He has far more muscle than Adam. What’s with screwing up sandow, its noted in his book he was 5’7.7″ 180lbs.

Guys you should view Adam Raw’s transformation.
He did’nt acheive his physique in one day,one week,one month,or one year.
It took around one decade,ie 9 years.This is the result of Adam’s 9 years of training.
He does’nt do solely bodyweight workouts.He adds weights to his workout making it challanging. This more than enough to build muscle mass.

Calisthenics does not ends with pull ups,push ups.
There are several different types of workouts with several different variations.This is more than enough to achieve the physique which Adam has.

His transformation line is also natural.
He buit maximum muscle mass in first 1 years.
after fifth year he had slow gains.
This is a proof that Adam is 100% Natty.

OTHER PROOFS;
No acne.
No physical signs of steroid use.
comparison with serge nubret.
serge nubret is packed with much more muscles than Adam Raw.